NEW YORK, Dec. 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly four in 10 Americans (38%) plan to spend less this holiday season than they did last year, according to a new Bankrate.com (NYSE: RATE) report. Only 14% plan to spend more this year and 47% plan to spend about the same amount as last year.
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Americans planning to spend less outnumber those planning to spend more in each age and income group; the disparity increases with age. Households with income less than $50,000 are the most likely to say they plan to spend less this year.
"Many Americans continue to struggle with little or no savings and stagnant wages, forcing them to rein in their spending this holiday season," said Greg McBride, CFA, Bankrate.com's senior financial analyst. "Overall, Americans are feeling more financially secure after the government shutdown and debt ceiling saga were resolved, but many are still clutching their pocketbooks closely."
Americans' feelings of financial security are now at their highest level since August. They are in positive territory for each age group under age 65. Overall, 25% of Americans feel better about their finances than they did last year and 18% feel worse.
Bankrate.com's Financial Security Index registered a 100.4 in December; readings above 100 indicate improved financial security compared with one year previous. The index dipped into negative territory in September, October and November, due in large part to the uncertainty in Washington.
Feelings of job security turned positive in December for the first time since September, completely unwinding the negative sentiment of the past two months. Net worth continues to be a strong area of financial security: those reporting higher net worth than one year ago outnumber those reporting lower net worth by a margin of three-to-two.
Savings is the only area of financial security that has elicited negative feelings every month since the poll debuted in December 2010.
The survey was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International (PSRAI) and can be seen in its entirety here:
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/consumer-index/financial-security-charts-1213.aspx
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PSRAI obtained telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample of 1,002 adults living in the continental United States. Interviews were conducted by landline (501) and cell phone (501, including 264 without a landline phone) in English by Princeton Data Source from December 5-8, 2013. Statistical results are weighted to correct known demographic discrepancies. The margin of sampling error for the complete set of weighted data is plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.
About Bankrate, Inc.
Bankrate is a leading publisher, aggregator, and distributor of personal finance content on the Internet. Bankrate provides consumers with proprietary, fully researched, comprehensive, independent and objective personal finance editorial content across multiple vertical categories including mortgages, deposits, insurance, credit cards, and other categories, such as retirement, automobile loans, and taxes. The Bankrate network includes Bankrate.com, our flagship website, and other owned and operated personal finance websites, including CreditCards.com, Interest.com, Bankaholic.com, Mortgage-calc.com, CreditCardGuide.com, Nationwide Card Services, InsuranceQuotes.com, CarInsuranceQuotes.com, InsureMe, Bankrate.com.cn, CreditCards.ca, NetQuote.com, and CD.com. Bankrate aggregates rate information from over 4,800 institutions on more than 300 financial products. With coverage of nearly 600 local markets in all 50 U.S. states, Bankrate generates over 172,000 distinct rate tables capturing on average over three million pieces of information daily. Bankrate develops and provides web services to over 80 co-branded websites with online partners, including some of the most trusted and frequently visited personal finance sites on the Internet such as Yahoo!, AOL, CNBC, and Bloomberg. In addition, Bankrate licenses editorial content to over 500 newspapers on a daily basis including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The Boston Globe.
For more information:
Caroline Farhat
Publicist, Bankrate, Inc.
[email protected]
(917) 368-8638
SOURCE Bankrate, Inc.
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